i’ve started doing this the past few days. it’s getting on my nerves. i wonder if it could be medication related, but then why start up now? i was told by my therapist i’ve been having obsessive thoughts. which, no ■■■■. but then he gave some tips, hold an ice cube, get a rubber band and snap it, etc. for the teeth grinding it was, maybe your psychiatrist can up some meds? which, come ON, i don’t want more more more just more all the time. seriously. there has to be a limit here.
does anyone else do this? it’s exclusively, i think, when i’m awake and conscious and i don’t want to do it, but i realize i’m doing it and don’t immediately stop, but then i tell myself to stop it and it’s still hard to not do, if that makes sense. i don’t want it to become a habit, but then i also don’t want some jaw ■■■■■■■■ to deal with in the future either. i only seem to do it during the day, so getting a mouth guard…i don’t need to come off more weird, you know?
I do it all the time chewing this stupid nicotine gum trying to kick smoking. That and I just get so internally frustrated that I just grind them. My gf hates it but she is really patient with me.
I had no idea I was grinding my teeth until the dentist told me I was. He said I’d worn them down considerably. I might have to get dentures before long. Now I catch myself doing it and I stop. I don’t know if it is medication related. I’ve been on medication about twenty-five years.
do you mean that wearing it at night carries over to the day and you stop doing it so much during the day as a result? that would be ideal, if so. cheers
It could start for any number of reasons. My son would grind his teeth when he was stressed. I suck on mine when I’m stressed/thinking. It becomes habit and can be hard to break.
I think the rubber band is to cause your brain to associate grinding your teeth with pain or even another action to help break the habit.
If there has been no change in medications etc then it’s likely it is a stress or anxiety response.
I grind my teeth in my sleep. I have a plastic thing in my mouth. (Night guard?) it protects my teeth. I bite so hard pieces of my teeth come out. I also have a biting tic, I bite hard and loud when I’m awake. I once bit my dentist. But he put his finger in my mouth without telling me that.
i haven’t had any medication changes for a few months and my psychologist definitely thinks it’s stress related exacerbating “ocd traits” but i’m going to talk to my psychiatrist about it on tuesday and also show him those articles about the medications.
i do have a lot of horribly ugly thoughts right now that i’m sure are inappropriate to post. plus if i say them then they’re even more real and i can’t hope to set anything aside. i feel like i don’t have anything to be stressed about because i don’t do anything but then i am more on the highstrund/tightly wound side in general so unsure.
with the ocd thing, my psychiatrist is one who relegates most everything to being a function of result of etc of the schizophrenia. so even the agoraphobia or the ocd traits aren’t so much given sepatately by him–though i’ve seen other psychiatrists who do see them as distinct stand alone diagnoses…i don’t really care because it’s all the same damn gulp of meds…but not seen any others recently who played a strong role as er doctors write stuff but it’s not catalogued in my medical record the same way. anyway, yes, so that has been something i know and known but then
i totally lost my train of thought there. and now my head is empty so hope i said something sensical. best to all.
it’s anxiety is what my psychiatrist said yesterday. he also said i continue to have “OCD traits” that he thinks are a result of the schizophrenia. he said some other stuff and suggested another medication to add and/or more group therapy.
ugh. i don’t want any more meds. i’m going to try and go to CBT again for a while first. i did it for agoraphobia to considerable success.
i have to write out all of the things that i’m concerned about thinking wrongly about and the thought of saying any of them is pretty terrifying lest they come true or get me as a result. i’m unsure i’m up for this, but then i never am.
I just keep doing it out of pure frustration with myself and my condition. Nothing right now seems to really be going well and I dunno how to handle all this stuff without drinking. And that got me into a lot of trouble recently with my loved ones. I’m very frustrated, and I’m trying to stay sober.
hey man, sorry to hear you’re struggling so much right now. you’ve been such great support and i just wanted you to know that and also know that i’m wishing you well. unsure if you go to groups, but maybe now would be a good time to share some stuff in person, too. sobriety is tough, but i do believe in you. take care